State of the Union: Jim Tressel gets invite from Ohio congressman

Tuesday

U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez invited former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel as his guest for tonight's State of the Union address.

WASHINGTON When President Donald Trump hits the dais for his State of the Union tonight, a face recognizable to fans of the Ohio State Buckeyes will be watching from the galleries.

Former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel will be the guest of freshman Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, a former Ohio State wide receiver who was elected last November.

The invite is tied to gratitude rather than politics. Tressel urged Gonzalez to consider public office and Gonzalez, a Rocky River Republican, credits Tressel's mentorship with encouraging him to run.

Tressel, now president of Youngstown State University, is one of a long list of guests who have been invited to watch the speech. Rep. Tim Ryan is bringing the head of the union representing the endangered General Motors plant in Lordstown. Rep. Warren Davidson has invited the Middletown police chief. Sen. Sherrod Brown will be accompanied by a woman whose husband died worrying about his endangered pension.

While many will watch the speech tonight with an eye to the balcony seats around First Lady Melania Trump, for many lawmakers, the address offers a chance to highlight their priorities by bringing a face attached to that priority.

Bringing a “real person” to highlight during the speech dates back to Ronald Reagan’s presidency: He started the tradition of bringing people and acknowledging their heroism or achievements when he invited Lenny Skutnik, a federal employee who dove into a freezing Potomac River to save a woman in a plane crash. Skutnik attended the 1982 address, receiving a shout-out from the dais from Reagan.

Since then, president after president has followed suit. Last year, President Donald Trump singled out the parents of Otto Warmbier, a Cincinnati man who died after being imprisoned in North Korea for months for supposedly trying to steal a propaganda poster. Trump will be announcing his guests in the hours before the speech.

But lawmakers have also followed suit, inviting their own guests for multiple reasons. Sometimes, it’s to highlight an issue of pressing importance to their district. Sometimes, it’s to reward someone for hard work for their community. Sometimes, it’s a bit of both.

For Ryan, D–Niles, few issues loom larger than the GM plant in Lordstown, which the automaker announced it would shutter earlier this year. He and the state’s two senators have been vocal in their criticism of the decision.

By bringing UAW Local 1112 President Dave Green, Ryan argues, he’ll thank Green for his work on behalf of the employees at that plant and highlight the plight of the hundreds of laid-off Lordstown workers “who deserve to be seen and heard.”

Green, Ryan said, has “been working around-the-clock to support GM workers and advocate for a new product at the facility … I can’t imagine a better partner in this fight to save GM Lordstown.”

While Ryan has focused on laid-off workers in his district, Davidson, a Troy Republican, invited Police Chief Rodney Muterspaw to highlight his work fighting the opioid epidemic in Middletown.

“There was once a perception that everything was going in the wrong direction in Ohio, yet that was never the case for the people of Middletown,” Davidson said. “The people of Middletown are always looking to the future. Chief Muterspaw has been leading the way in Middletown, and he is making a real difference.”

The state's two senators have also gotten into the tradition. This year, Brown asked Rita Lewis, the widow of Butch Lewis, a Vietnam veteran, truck driver and Ohio Teamster who died in 2015 while fighting to preserve endangered pensions. Lewis was Brown's guest last year as well. Brown last year chaired a committee that tried — but failed — to find a solution to the crisis.

Portman, meanwhile, invited Tito Brown, the mayor of Youngstown. The city recently received a federal grant aimed at improving infrastructure within the city and connecting key institutions such as Youngstown State, Mercy Health and the Youngstown Business Incubator. Brown's leadership, Portman said, "is moving this city forward."